Olson Communications announced that Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland, Oregon, is the recipient of the 2013 Chefs of Tomorrow Award. Sharon Olson, founder and president of Chicago-based Olson Communications, presented the award on October 29 at the annual dinner for foodservice media.
The Chefs of Tomorrow Award launched in 2008 as a grant program to assist the professional development of foodservice educators in postsecondary culinary-arts programs nationwide. According to Olson, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland earned a 2013 award as an exemplary program, preparing students for fulfilling careers in the hospitality industry.
“The broad and challenging hands-on curriculum at this venerable Portland institution draws on Le Cordon Bleu’s century-old tradition of immersion in the culinary-arts and hospitality world and instruction that emphasizes demonstration followed by practical application,” Olson says. “We were impressed with the cutting-edge facility and passion and dedication of the students in the program, who train with experienced and supportive chef instructors, faculty, and staff.”
Founded in 1983, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland, formerly Western Culinary Institute, offers training in culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking, attracting students from across the U.S. and abroad. The 50,000 square foot campus located in the historic Galleria Building in the heart of downtown Portland houses lecture classrooms and nine kitchens as well as a public, student-staffed, fine-dining restaurant.
The 11 trade editors attending this year’s Chefs of Tomorrow dinner—who were in Portland for the 2013 International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) Conference—were treated to a multicourse meal prepared by culinary arts students, with matching local and imported wines and a strawberry lambic beer served with dessert.
Dishes of the evening included a sweet amuse bouche of miniature cupcakes served with a sparkling brachetto; an appetizer of andouille and clam pone with steamed collards, spiced corn purée, and grated Manchego; a five-grain salad with Turkish apricots, dates, parsley, and shallots dressed in a white-fig vinaigrette and served with a thyme and olive-oil torta and chèvre; baked penne pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, kale, tri-color peppers, and sweet Italian sausage in a Cheddar and Asiago sauce; a specialty cheese course; and for dessert, slivers of cheesecake and a roulette of red-velvet, chocolate, and vanilla cupcakes with complementing sauces which included candied ginger, black cherry, and spiced mango.
Sponsors of the dinner, whose products were showcased throughout the menu, were Blue Marble Brands, Johnsonville Sausage, Saputo Cheese USA Inc., and the Cheesecake Factory Bakery.
In addition to a 2013 Chefs of Tomorrow Award, Olson presented the program at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland with a $500 grant.
Next year’s Chefs of Tomorrow event for trade media awarding a 2014 recipient will be held in early November in Dallas.
